Tag: roseville

It’s About Time for Something New Here!

Since moving to Rice Lake, Wisconsin in April 2012, we haven’t done a whole lot of traveling that we’ve written about. I’m going to try to make sure and write about our travels this month though in May 2013.

This month’s trip will take us out of the snow we just had on May 2 to a nice hot 100 in Arizona.

Goodbye snow!

Snow Rice Lake May 2, 2013
Snow Rice Lake May 2, 2013

We’re taking the month to eventually get the rest of our stuff out of storage in California. That will be near the end of the month. Here’s our basic itinerary:

  • May 6 – Leave Rice Lake, WI and drive to Kansas City, MO; stay overnight at a hotel we’ve already booked.
  • May 7 – Drive from Kansas City to probably Delhart, TX where we’ll stay at a hotel we stayed in last time we were through that part of Texas.
  • May 8 – From Delhart drive to Phoenix, Arizona and be warmly welcomed by our very good friend Terry Wilson and his lovely wife Virgie. Go swimming in their pool in 100 degree weather! :)
  • May 9 – Visit with Terry & Virgie and that night Joel will get to play music with Terry and his band.
  • May 10-12 – Stay with our friend Dan and his family in another section of Phoenix.
  • May 13-18 – Back to Terry & Virgie’s to visit more, play music, swim, swim, swim.
  • May 19 – Visit with Sue’s Uncle Phil & family in Glendale, Arizona. Sue hasn’t seen her Uncle in about 30 years.
  • May 20 – Drive from Phoenix to San Diego, California. Stay at a hotel in Chula Vista that has a pool.
  • May 21 – Visit with Joel’s brother and family
  • May 22 – Visit with Sue’s mom; possibly go to Balboa Park.
  • May 23 – Visit with Joel’s sister and family (read about their recent road trip); stay overnight with friends Ken & Kelly in San Diego
  • May 24 – Drive up to Northern California and visit with Tom Bentley.
  • May 25 – Drive to San Francisco and visit with David Reffkin.
  • May 26-28 Stay with good friends Pam & Phil in Roseville, California. Pick up stuff still in storage. Fiona spends two days with her sister Rachelle.
  • May 29 – Leave California for Idaho
  • May 30 – Drive through Montana
  • May 31 – Drive through Wyoming, North Dakota
  • June 1 – Arrive back in Rice Lake, Wisconsin

Of course it’s all subject to change. I plan to take pictures and keep a written journal and hopefully post often here. Fiona may post at her website as well.

We plan on having a blast!

A Year Ago Today We Left Roseville California

A year ago today we left Roseville California to head to Montreal. It’s been quite a year. We’ve driven through a lot of states and stayed with lots of interesting people.

What have we learned? For one thing, I don’t want to live in a big city ever again. I don’t want to move back to California. I am drawn to small towns and a slower pace of life. We can do just about anything, anywhere!

Are we ready to settle? I think some sort of travel will always be in our plans. Maybe house sit for a month here, 3 weeks there, several months in another place. But for a year or so I think we may just settle in a little town somewhere. Not sure where yet or exactly when.

We’ve been talking a lot about what comes next. We have a few months in New Jersey where we’re going to be staying. The book release party is coming up in November in Philadelphia. There are places and people we want to see while we’re out on the East coast for the winter. Then….

We’ll let you know!

 

Informal Meet and Greet in Roseville California at Panera Bread August 10th 2011

We’re only in Roseville for a few days and there are so many people in the Sacramento area here that we know. We’d love to meet with everyone individually and that’s just not possible. However, for those of you that would like to see us while we’re back in town, we’ve arranged to spend Wednesday afternoon, August 10, 2011, at Panera Bread. Anyone who’d like to come visit with us for a bit, please stop by and do so. Here are the details.

Where: Panera Bread, 916 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Roseville, California

When: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Facebook Page: Read more about the event here.

We hope to see you there!

 

Coming Back Home – Where is Home?

Yesterday I read a post at another traveler’s blog discussing where home is. Being a nomad means we have no home in the traditional sense of the word. Our last home was a rental in Roseville California. Now when asked where is home, I answer, here – where we are right now.

Right now, today, home is in Mesa Arizona. Home is where ever my husband and daughter are at. Monday home will be in Roseville California through March 20th. So some may think I’m going back home. Yet California doesn’t feel like home anymore.

When we return to Mesa Arizona on March 21st, it will feel like I’m coming back home. At least for a while. Until we go ‘home’ to Rice Lake Wisconsin where Joel’s mom lives. Joel was born in Wisconsin so he’ll be going home in yet another sense.

Home here in Arizona for the past 7 weeks has been great. Our hosts and friends, the Wilson’s, have made us feel right at home. We all pitch in together to shop, cook, and clean. We enjoy watching movies together at the end of the day. Joel and Terry, both musicians and bass players, loved participating in FAWM during February and creating new songs.

Fiona right now is making peanut butter cookies with Virgie. She loves both Terry and Virgie and they have made her feel very special while we’ve been here.

We’re very grateful to the Wilsons for hosting us these past 7 weeks. We’re happy they want us to come back to house sit in March while they’re on vacation. It will be nice to have a place to ourselves for a couple of weeks in a place where we feel comfortable and AT HOME!

House Sitting Job Needed

We’d love to spend the month of April house sitting somewhere in the south. For us, that means the Virginias or Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky. We’re flexible, so other states aren’t out of the question, and the end of March is possible, and the April thing is pretty open-ended too.

We also have this dream of spending May in Slovenia so if you just happen to know someone there who needs a house sitter for the month of May (or at least a few weeks) we’d love to talk.

And wherever you are, if you’d like to schedule a house concert in your living room for yourself and all your music-loving friends, I’d love to put you on my schedule. I’m proud of the music I write and enjoy sharing it with others.

Catching Up With Sue’s Kids

It’s been 2-1/2 months since I’ve seen James and Rachelle. We’re in Roseville for a few days and they came over to the Stephen’s home where we’re staying to visit. Fiona misses her big sister. She’ll have to adjust now that Rachelle and Ryan are getting married in March.

Thank you to the Stephens family for being such great friends!

House Sitting in Roseville with Fiona Bunch

We are currently house sitting for friends in Roseville California while they are backpacking in Italy. We’re one week in to our two-week house sitting job here and loving it.

The home owners gave us permission to take some photos and post them here. As all of you who were worried about Fiona having a bed and room of her own to sleep in, she does have a bed and room of her own – much nicer than she had previously. She certainly didn’t have a walk-in closet before!

Besides the fresh roses in the guest bedroom, there was a vase of fresh roses in the kitchen awaiting us when we arrived. Along with a note that said, “Eat what you want; use what you want.” Fiona was given a gift by Bob and Bentley – the mini dachshunds we are dog sitting.

One morning we were eating breakfast at the dining room table and I looked out the window to see a beautiful rainbow. I quickly took pictures and then watched as it disappeared.

When my friend from Grass Valley asked how it felt to be ‘homeless’ I looked around and said, “I feel like I’m living in luxury at the moment.”

Guest Post by Sara Gaffney: You Have My Blessing and Envy

Sara is a virtual assistant who founded the Northern California Virtual Assistants Meetup Group. We’ve been able to get to know Sara quite well over the last year or two. She recently sent us a couple of emails that she has agreed to let us share as a guest post.

Hi Sue & Joel,

I have been following your blog. I think it is great what you guys are doing! I am enjoying reading your posts :) Where are you heading next? Do you have your two months planned out?

Make sure you have a good GPS, and good set of tools with you and your battery is always charged on your cell phones. Never take a detour if you are not sure if the weather is bad, and always let someone know where you are heading to. OK, those are my motherly tips for the day :) BE safe, have fun, enjoy, and experience life as it was meant to be experienced; meeting people in their own environment, face to face, seeing life through your own eyes; instead of what you hear on T.V, or in books.

This is an experience every child and adult should have.

What a history lesson. Fiona can really experience how others live, not just those in Roseville California. It is not always easy when your child/children asks you those difficult questions that most parents try to protect our children from. When you pass through a town that you want to lock the doors or a city that looks deserted because all the factories and businesses have closed down. Or where the majority of people have different skin color then you. If more people were able to get out of their back yard and travel around we would be a better place.

I would add that you make time for play groups. I would hate to think she has an imaginary friend :) That could be fun too… I seem to remember I had an imaginary friend. I didn’t turn out too bad!

This is from the Webster Dictionary: Guilt is a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes—accurately or not—that he or she has violated a moral standard, and bears significant responsibility for that violation. It is closely related to the concept of remorse

Wow, for some reason I don’t see how you fall under the category of guilty.

So don’t have any guilt. You’re giving your family an opportunity to live outside your backyard and make friends with people that have all different kinds of stories to share about their life. And for a person to grow, they need to get out of their own backyard sometimes. Who’s to say when that time is? Live in the moment, who knows if there’s a tomorrow?

You have my blessing and envy.

Take care,

Sara

P.S. One more thing, you are not cheating the system… We created virtual businesses so we didn’t have to work for any one. That we could work on the beach if we wanted to. Well, you have choosen to work driving around in your car right now, home to home. What’s is wrong with that? You are working, making money, doing what you like, while others are hating life, losing their home, fighting with their spouse and getting fired.

So I say, when you pack the car, smile wide and wave good-bye knowing at least for now you have done the right thing. You can always rent a place again. You can even move in with your kids :)

OK, that will be $55 hr for my counseling services :)

When we asked her if we could post this as a guest post she replied, “OK, sure. If it makes you not feel guilty and gives hope to others to see that living is not just behind four walls then go for it.”

Heading Back to Washington Today – Still in Need of a Place in Oregon on Friday

We’re wrapping up here in Surrey British Columbia today and heading back into Washington. We’re sitting here in Canada knowing we’re going to miss it as soon as we cross the border.

Right now we’re at the Wired Monk Coffee Shop wrapping up some web work before we go make our lunch and then finish packing the van for the drive to Arlington to stay with Brad and his family for a couple of nights. We’ve really enjoyed being able to work at the Wired Monk; the people have been great. You can see some of our completed web work and web work in progress.

Many thanks to Renee and Rick for putting us up the last two nights!

We’re still in need of a floor to lay our tired heads in the Portland Oregon area Friday night. We really don’t want to drive all the way from Arlington Washington to Roseville California in one shot. We’d love to crash on someone’s living room floor Friday night so we can do the long haul Saturday and be home to see family and friends on Sunday. Let us know if you know of someone who can put us up one night.